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Development threatens Fort A. P. Hill Date published: 10/7/2005
IAM WRITING this as commander of Fort A.P. Hill and a soldier serving in defense of America's liberties. It's disturbing to see a full-page advertisement, apparently produced in concert by a high-profile lobbying group and a developer that denigrates the mission of one of the Army's premier training centers. Since the days preceding American entry into the World War II, Fort A.P. Hill has been engaged in training this nation's fighting men and women. The base's primary mission is to provide realistic training to America; defense forces, which come from all services of our military, to include Marines from Quantico and sailors from Dahlgren. Also included are federal agencies and local police departments, such as the FBI, ATF, and the Richmond and Fredericksburg Police Departments, whose officers hone skills necessary to protect our communities. Last year, even with the heavy pace of deployments to multiple theaters of overseas operations, nearly 60,000 military personnel trained at Fort A.P. Hill. The work they do and the missions they perform may be largely invisible to people in the Fredericksburg region going about their day-to-day lives, but as a Special Forces officer who also trained here, let me assure everyone that the work going on a has broad effect on American warriors engaged around the globe. When America's sons and daughters join the military, this nation becomes responsible for ensuring they have all the training and tools needed to survive and win as they go into harm's way. Many might view this as a sole responsibility of military leadership but, realistically, all citizens share in this duty. This becomes even more significant for those living near bases where that training is conducted. The professionals who've trained here over the decades have been fortunate in that the installation was located in a largely rural area. People living near the installation understood and supported the important work taking place. Preserving rural buffers around installations helps maintain the training environment. Degrade those buffers and you degrade readiness. The Department of Defense has identified this as an issue affecting training and readiness nationally. Recent legislation provides assistance in establishing compatible use buffers and Fort A.P. Hill is actively joined
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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